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' 2 Sheets-Sheet" 1.

(No Model.)

ILE. JACOBSI? BLEGTRIG FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

'Patented D ec. 29, 1891;

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(No Model.)

H E JACOBS ELEOTRIG' FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

P'ate'nted Dec. 29, 1891.

'lllllifliiiiiilillllllll IIIIIIIIIIII' UNITED ST TES PATENT OrFIcE,

HENRY JACOBS, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK G. BIGELOW, MOSES I-I. BRAND, AND GEORGE KNOWLES, JR.

ELECTRIC FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,306, dated December 29, 1891.

Application filed March 23, l 889.

description thereof.

My invention relates to electric fire-alarmv systems, and will be fully described herein after. a

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sec- .tion through the center of the box containing the mechanism of my alarm system. Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof, and Fig. 3 is a diagram of. my system. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the thermostat.

A is a metal box. 7 Bis an electro-magnet consisting of two spools, each of which is connected to the box by its stem a and a nut 19.

O is a wheel, the axle C of which is supported at each end by a cone-bearing c, and to this axle the wheel 0 is keyed or feathered. This axle also carries a lever D, the boss 01 of p which fits loosely on it between the wheel 0 and an insulated collar E, which the axle also carries. The periphery of wheel O is grooved, as at c, and the lever D, which carries an armature F on its upper end, also carries a kind of cap e on its face; oppositethe armature, which cap overhangs the wheel 0 and.

' gives the disk f a constant tendency to wedge between the cap e and wheel O'when the armature F is being drawnto the magnet B, and permits the cap to yield when being drawn away from the magnet by aspring G, one end of which is hooked to the cap and the other to the box. Another cap H is secured to the box, and this cap confines another disk H in the groove 0 of wheel 0 at such an angle that a forward revolution of the wheel 0 will not be impeded by the disk H; but a backward movement of said wheel will wedge this disk ,between the cap H and wheel 0 and prevent it from revolvingin that direction; and to furwill be upon metal.

with a post 19 Serial No. 304,512. (No model.)

' ther insure this action of the disk H aspring h is interposed between the overhanging portion of the cap H and the disk, which spring when at rest will normally wedge the disk between the nearly vertical portion of cap H and the periphery of Wheel. 0, and thus securely lock the wheel against backward movement. springs D secured to its lower end, and these The lever D- has a pair of contactsprings depend between the arms of abracket I. One of these arms carriesa contact-screw a, while the other carries a contact-screw j, which latter is insulated at j from the bracketarm, through which itpasses, and a wire leads from it to the electro-lnagnet B,- Thecollar E, which is of metal and is insulated from the axle O, as shown at 0 has a hub E on one of its faces, and on its periphery the collar proper has an insulating-plug m embedded in it. I p

M is an arm of insulating material that projects from a bracket M, that is suitably secured to one side of the box or casing, as shown in Fig. 2, and from this arm a brushN projects onto the hub E, and this brush is connected with magnet Bby a wire N. p O and O areother brushes that aresupported by bracket M, from which they are insulated in such positions that at one period in the revolution of wheel 0 and collar E the brush 0 will rest on insulation m and brush 0 will rest upon the metal surface, and when brush 0 is upon an insulation the brush 0 The brush 0 is connected by a wire 19 with a contact-post p, and the brush 0 is likewise connected by a wire 19 These posts are insulatedin opposite arms P P of a bracket P, and this bracket has other arms P through which pass pivot-screws q q of a lever Q, the upper end of which carries an armatureQ' of a magnet B,

which is secured to the box-like magnet 13, but is insulated from the box, as shown at a, Fig. 1. The lower portion of the lever Q depends between the cont-act-post-sp' and p and a spring 1", one end of which is vconnected to the upper end of lever Q and the other to a post 0, serves to draw the armature Q away from the magnet when it is de-energized. The bracket P is insulated from the box, as shown, at s, and

is connected by a fine wire 25 with the battery X, which wire may lead from any part of bracket P. The wheel 0 has a series of pins G O C C projecting from its face and parallel to its axis, which pins are grouped differently on the wheel of each box, and these pins are for engagementwith a brush S, one end of which is connected by an insulatingblock S with a bracket S the free end of which bracket carries a contact-screw S that is in normal contact with brush S and connects it by a wire S with a signal-box T, which latter is also connected with brush S by a wire 5, through battery X and this connection is broken by the contact of the pins 0 (3 during the revolution of the wheel 0 to operate an alarm in box '1.

V in the diagram represents a thermostat of any desired construction, that shown in the drawings, more particularly in Fig. 4, comprising a chamber filled with expansible material, and a plunger or piston fitted within an opening in said chamber and resting upon said expansible material in such a manner as to be moved outwardly by the expansion of said material. V is a contact-spring, which is operated by the thermostat, V the normal contact-post, and V the post that the spring V is thrown into contact with by the thermostat when a fire occurs. These are in circuit with magnet B and battery X, through wires X X X They are also circuited to a small electro-magnet B by a fine wire B and when this magnet is energized its armature B is thrown into circuit with the battery X, through wires X X contact-point X wire X magnet B wire X drop X and wires X X The operation of my device is as follows: Upon an excessive rise in the temperature within the room in which the thermostat is located, such as would cause the thermostat to lift the spring V, so as to break the circuit traversing the wires X and X or upon a break occurring at any other pointin said circuit between the junctions of the wire 13* therewith, the loop within which the thermostat is located will be eut out and the currentwill then pass through electro-magnet B, as before, along wire X to the junction of wire B therewith, thence along wire B through magnet B which is of comparatively high resistance, to wire X, and thence along wire X to the battery. This places the high-resistance magnet B in series with magnet B, thereby lessening the flow of current through said magnet B, and consequently lessening the power of said magnet sufficiently to permit the spring Vt to draw the armature Q away from the core of said magnet B and thus vibrating the lever Q, so as to break the contact between the lower end of said lever and the post p and establishing a contact between the lower end of said lever and the post p. Before this movement takes place current is free to pass along wire 15 from the battery to lever Q, thence through post p and wire 19 to brush 0', which atthis time rests upon the insulating section or plug m on the collar E, where it stops. \Vhen the abovedescribed movement of the lever Q takes place, current passes from the battery along wire 15, as before, to lever Q, thence through post p and wire 19 to the brush O,which rests upon the metallic portion of the collar E, thence through said collar E, brush N, post M, and wire N to magnet B, through said magnet 13 and wire to the post 11, and from said post 2' through contact-spring D, lever D, and wire X back to the battery. The magnet B is thus energized, so as to cause its core to attract the armature F at the upper end of the lever D, thus causing said lever to vibrate, so as to break contact between the spring D and'post i, and to establish a contact between the other spring D and post i. By this movement of lever D the circuit passingthrough magnetB is obviously broken and said magnet de-energized, the current now passing .from wire N along wire N to posti, and thencethrough spring D, lever D, and wire X back to the battery, as before described. As soon as the magnet B becomes de'energized the spring G draws the upper end of the lever D away from said magnet, breaking the contact between the post tand the spring D, and re-establishing the contact between the other spring D' and the post 1', thereby again causing current to pass through the magnet B, energizing said magnet and causing the armature F to be again attracted thereby. This operation is very rapidly repeated, the magnet B operating alternately with the spring G to vibrate said lever D. The vibration of said lever D, by means of the engagement of the diskf with said lever and with the periphery of the wheel 0, will operate to rotate said wheel so as to bring the pin 0 into engagement with the contactspring S, thereby breaking contact between said spring and the post S and so breaking the circuit which normally traverses the wires 8* and S and causing the current to pass from the battery X through wire X and the signaling device '1, and thence back to the battery X thus ringing the signal T once.

By the continued movement of the wheel 0 the pins 0 C (J are successively brought into engagement with the spring S, so as to cause three more successive breaks in the circuit operating the signal '1 and ringing said signal T three times in quick succession. By

IIO

this time the wheel 0 will have revolved so as to bring the insulating-section m beneath the brush O,and current will then be cutout from magnet B and the lever D will cease to operate. When the break first occurs in the loop within which the thermostat is located, the high-resistance magnet B being energized, will attract the armature B so as to form a contact between post X and the extremity of said armature, thus permitting current to flow from wire X along wire X, post X armature B wire X, through magnet B wire X post W, the pivoted arm X and wire X back to the battery. I This energizes the magnet B and causes it to attract the,

armature W, so' as to lift the extremity of said armature out of "engagement with the the signal, as before described, indicates,

trouble of some kind, but not necessarily fire; .but'in case the trouble happens to be fire the thermostat will be operated by the further rise of the temperature, so as to raise the spring V into cont-act withthe contact-point V This l e-establishes the circuit through wires X X and the magnet B being ar-g ranged in shunt with said. circuit, will receive comparatively little current. All of the cur-;

' rent passing over th'e'main circuit will, how;

ever, pass through magnetB, thus increasing the energy of saidmagnet sufficiently to core of said magnet.

, of said signal.

overcome the resistance of the spring 1, so as tocause the armature Q to move toward the. i This movement of the armature Q causes the armQ to vibrate, so as to bring its lower end into contact with postp when current will pass from the battery over wire 15 through lever Q, post 10, wire p and brush 0, which now rests upon a metallic portion ofthe collar E, and thence pass:

in g through brush N, post M, wire N, magnet B, wire 70, post i, sp'ringD, andwire X back to the battery, as before described. This again sets the lever D in operation and causes the wheel 0 to rotate, soas to bring the remain ing pins located in groups about the periphery of the said wheel into engagement with the spring S, thus causing a number of successive breaks in the'signal-operating circuit andthus causing a succession of operations By the arrangement of parts shown in the drawings the signal would.v be operated so as to ringthree four successive times during this last operation of the I wheel 0. The lever D continues to operate as described, so as to rotate the wheel 0 until said wheel has been revolved sufficiently to bring the insulating-section "m beneath the brush .0, whencurrent will be again out outfrom magnet B and the lever D and wheelO.

will again cease to operate, the parts being now in the relative positions, shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. e

ings,'more particularly Fig. 3, that the electro-magnet B is always in circuit with-the battery, the magnets B and B being arranged in shunt. with said'magnet B, the high-resistance magnet B being thrown into series with magnet B only upon a breakinthe main circuit, as before described, and its function being to lessen the power of said magnet B by theintroduction of its resistance into cir-' 'cuit with said magnet B and the consequent lessening of the-quantity of current traversing said circuit, so as to permit the spring r to vibrate the lever Q into position to estab: lish a circuit through the magnet B to cause the lever D and wheel 0 to operate as before described, so as to break the signal-operating circuit. Of course any desired arrangement of the pins about the periphery of the wheel 0 may be employed instead of the arrange-v ment shown in the drawings, so as to produce any desired number of operations of the signal.

' Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'- 1. The combination, with an'electric motor and contact-collar revolved thereby,thelatter havinga continuous and anintermittent contactsurface, of abrush bearing on the continuous contact-surface andwired to the [motor-magnet,anelectriccircuitincludingathermostat, a magnet and its armature, contact: posts between which one end of the armature depends, two brushes resting on the intermittent contact-surface of the motor-collar and wired each to one of the contact-posts last named, a wheel revolved by the motor, having horizontal pins projecting from it in series, and a brushnormally in circuit' with a signal-box, but projecting in the path of the pins aforesaid, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a circuit including a motor for operating a signaling device, of a second circuit including a'thermostat and a low-resistance magnet having movable armature adapted to shift the circuit which operates said motor, and ahigh-resistance magnet arranged in shunt with said thermostat and low-resistance magnet, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

3. The combination, witha loop including a thermostat, of a shunt-wire and magnet connecting the branches of 'the loop between the thermostat and battery, a low-resistance magnet adjacent to the battery, an armature for the last-named magnet having a lever-exten tact-.posts,brushes wired tothese posts, a motor operated by the current throughthe v.sion that is adapted to vibrate between conbrushes, and'a switch andsignal operated by the motor, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a thermostat and contact-spring controlled thereby, of contactpoints spanning said'spri'ng and in circuit with a battery, an electric motor, a wheel operated by said motor and 'a make-and-break It will be observed by reference to the drawon the inake-and-break collar, each of which is wired to one of thelast named contactposts, and a wire connecting said armaturelever with the battery, substantially as described.

5. In a fire-alarm, the'combination, with an" electr c-magnet, of a lever having an armature for said magnet on its upper end, a spring for retracting said armature when the magnet is de-energized, a shaft forming a fulcrum for said armature-lever, a wheel keyed to said shaft, a cap forming part of the armaturelever and a loose disk connecting said cap with the periphery of the wheel, a metal collar insulated from but carried by the shaft aforesaid and having insuiations on its periphery as well as a solid metallic hub, a brush wired from the hub to the electro-magnet of the motor, springs arranged on the lower end of the armature, contact-posts, one on each side of the spring, one leading to the wire that connects the hub with motor-mag- .net and the other wired directly to the said magnet, two brushes resting on the collar and wired to separate contact-posts, a lever one end of which carries an armature while its other end depends between the last-named contact-posts, and an electro-magnet in cireuit with a battery and thermostat, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with an electric signaling device, of a make-and-break contact device in circuit with said signaling device, a wheel provided with means for operating said make-and-break device to break the circuit through the signaling device, an electro-magnet in circuit with a battery and having a vibrating armature engaged with said wheel and adapted to rotate said Wheel, one end of said vibrating armature being arranged to vibrate between contact-posts, one of which is in circuit with said magnet to make and break said circuit and a circuit including a thermostat, a low-resistance magnet provided with a vibrating armature adapted to shift the circuit passing through the first-mentioned magnet,

and ahigh-resistance magnet and a visual signal or indicator arranged in shunt with lowresistance magnet and the thermostat. substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. The herein-described fire-alarm -signal apparatus, comprising an electric signaling device, a make-and-break contact device in circuit therewith, a motor foroperating said make-and-break device and in circuit with a battery, a thermostat, and a low-resistance magnet also in circuit with a battery, ahighresistance magnet, and a visual signal in shunt with said thermostat and low-resistance magnet, substantially as and for the purposes described.

8. The combination, with an electric signaling device and a contact device in circuit therewith, of a motor arranged to engage with said contact device to cause the signaling device to operate, an independent circuit embracinga thermostat, aloW-resistance magnet and a battery, and a high-resistance magnet and an indicator connected in shunt with said circuit, substantially as and for the purposes described.

9. In an electric fire-alarm system, an electric signal, a visual signal orindicator, a thermostat and low-resistance magnet in circuit with a battery, a high-resistance magnet in shunt with said circuit, and a motor for operating said signals,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY E. JACOBS.

Witnesses:

S. S. STOUT, WILLIAM KLUG. 

